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Since 1987 - Covering the Fastest Computers in the World and the People Who Run ThemThu, 17 Aug 2017 22:33:47 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.160365857Supercomputers Boost Jet Engine Designhttps://www.hpcwire.com/2014/06/11/supercomputers-boost-jet-engine-design/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=supercomputers-boost-jet-engine-design
https://www.hpcwire.com/2014/06/11/supercomputers-boost-jet-engine-design/#respondWed, 11 Jun 2014 19:27:59 +0000http://www.hpcwire.com/?p=13141The United States is home to many of the world’s top supercomputers, powerful machines that enable a wide-range of research efforts, from exploring the outer reaches of the universe to enabling faster, quieter and more efficient jet engines. As revealed in a recent report, a group of GE engineers are working with researchers from Arizona […]

]]>The United States is home to many of the world’s top supercomputers, powerful machines that enable a wide-range of research efforts, from exploring the outer reaches of the universe to enabling faster, quieter and more efficient jet engines.

As revealed in a recent report, a group of GE engineers are working with researchers from Arizona State and Cornell universities to design and build better jet engines. The project has the benefit of some very powerful supercomputers: Sierra, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as the world’s second most powerful computer, Titan, installed at Oak Ridge.

GE built the first jet engine in the US in 1941. Since then, the designs have grown ever more sophisticated. Madhu Pai, an engineer in the Computational Combustion Lab at GE Global Research, is focused on improving a key part of the engine, the fuel injector.

Fuel injectors have an intricate design and must withstand enormous heat and pressures. Injectors first atomize the fuel by forcibly pumping it through a small nozzle under high pressure. Then they spray the fuel into the combustion chamber where it burns, producing energy for propulsion.

“They are one of the most challenging parts to design and very expensive to produce,” Pai says.

Pai is part of the team that is using Titan and Sierra to examine the inside of a fuel injector. The combined computing power available to the project is equivalent to 10,000 computer processors operating simultaneously for over 9 months.

“The supercomputer gives us a microscopic view of the inside of the injector,” Pai says. “We can study the processes occurring in regions hidden behind the metal or where the fuel spray is too dense. This allows us to better understand the physics behind the design.”

Pai explains that even minor changes to fuel nozzle geometry can have a significant effect on engine performance. The ultimate goal of the project is increasing engine power and fuel-efficiency while reducing emissions. The simulations help the engineers understand how air and fuel mix and burn.

]]>https://www.hpcwire.com/2014/06/11/supercomputers-boost-jet-engine-design/feed/013141Ice-Repellant Materials One Step Closerhttps://www.hpcwire.com/2013/09/12/ice-repellant_materials_one_step_closer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ice-repellant_materials_one_step_closer
https://www.hpcwire.com/2013/09/12/ice-repellant_materials_one_step_closer/#respondThu, 12 Sep 2013 07:00:00 +0000http://www.hpcwire.com/2013/09/12/ice-repellant_materials_one_step_closer/Scientists at GE Global Research are using the multi-petaflop Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study the way that ice forms as water droplets come in contact with cold surfaces. They are working to develop "icephobic" materials that prevent ice formation and accumulation.

]]>Scientists at GE Global Research are using the multi-petaflop Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study the way that ice forms as water droplets come in contact with cold surfaces. They are working to develop “icephobic” materials that prevent ice formation and accumulation.

“We have observed that certain types of surfaces hinder ice formation, but the exact mechanism was unknown,” writes GE High Performance Computing Advocate Rick Arthur in a recent blog entry. “We use simulations as a means to gain insight into the conditions under which ice can be suppressed.”

There are numerous industrial systems that would benefit from such a technology. Wind turbines, offshore oil & gas drilling and production rigs can withstand very cold climates, even rain and snow, but ice can be a game-stopper. The researchers were awarded 80 million CPU hours on Titan through the Department of Energy ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge to advance this science.

The blog entry highlights the work of Dr. Masako Yamada, a scientist in GE’s Advanced Computing Lab. Simulations help Dr. Yamada and her colleagues to better understand ice resistance. The effectiveness of the candidate surfaces is evaluated based on four potential effects:

Modeling and simulation are crucial to help narrow down potential candidates, but as Dr. Yamada explains, the computational technique – molecular dynamics – is notoriously time-consuming.

“‘Molecular’ means we track the position of every single water molecule. ‘Dynamics’ means we calculate very short slices of time,” she says.

Only the most powerful supercomputers in the world, machines like Titan, can handle this kind of compute-intensive work. Retooling their application to run on GPUs was another big step. The team achieved a 5x speedup by converting their code to run on Titan’s GPU accelerators.

“Even so,” says Yamada, “we can only model water droplets that are about 50 nanometers in size (far smaller than real world droplets) and we still cannot run our models to simulate as long a time period as we would like.”

The use of virtual models, as opposed to “real-life” experiments, allows for greater insight into the process:

“We can see exactly how the water molecules interact with the surfaces,” notes Yamada. “This is simply impossible using any physical test. In addition, in the virtual world, the results are not impacted by dirt, defects and other random sources of noise.”

Ultimately, the research will help establish a new class of materials. From safer aircraft engines to self-defrosting car windshields and even frustration-free ice cream scoops, the potential applications range as far as the imagination.